The Structure of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2
This time I promise to actually provide the promised article instead of talk of Akwa Ibom and Benin City.
The Church may seem to the quick observer to be run by bishoprcis and branch presidencies and a level up by stake presidencies. While these groups have a role, they are not the only group and maybe not even the main group.
I remember a talk when I was about 10 that explained who ran the church at a functional local level. The talk is outdated, but why is key to Monsonian and Nelsonian reforms. The former of course were in some part incluenced by President Nelson since he was a member of the 12 during all the time President Monson was President of the Church. In fact President Nelson was a member of the 12 the whole time President Monson was in the first presidency and then some time.
So in about 1989 I was told the church at the local level was largely moved forward by the weekly meetings of the Priesthood Executive Council. This was in many ways true at the time, although in general out of 4 weeks only 2 saw the PEC meet, one saw the Welfare Council which was the PEC plus the relief society president and another saw the Ward Council meet.
Starting in 2010 with the biggest Monsonian reform that people had a hard time understanding for what it was this changed. At that point The Ward Council was made more central to the functioning of the ward. This in part was meant to relieve some pressures on the bishop. It also involved the end of the ward activities committee and placing of these functions under the ward council, with the result that activities were to be more closely alligned to the general mission of the Church.
In some ways this change also explains why top-down history writing does not capture all the issues involved. The activities committee varried a great amount from unit to unit in ways that the technical policies did not encompass.
In the case of the activies committee it was in theory to have a physical recreation specialist, a cultural arts specialist and a chair. Often it only had a chair or co-chair, and the amount the speiclist did when called varried.
Another factor is that pretty much all activities not under the youth or pirmary programs came under the activities committee in most wards. The exceptions usually related to YSA. In YSA wards often there would be multiple committees doing things that would have been just the activities committee in a geographical ward. On the other hand some other wards would have YSA committees in the ward.
Going up a level from the ward or branch, the stake is very clearly a place where the presidency is not the only administrative body. A stake would have a high council. Stake high councils are a key point of Church discipline. They also help the stake presidency in running the stake. The stake presidency and high council are essentially the first presidency and quorum of the 12 ona local level. WIth the addition of the patriarch. There used to be a patriarch at the Church level.
The Church may seem to the quick observer to be run by bishoprcis and branch presidencies and a level up by stake presidencies. While these groups have a role, they are not the only group and maybe not even the main group.
I remember a talk when I was about 10 that explained who ran the church at a functional local level. The talk is outdated, but why is key to Monsonian and Nelsonian reforms. The former of course were in some part incluenced by President Nelson since he was a member of the 12 during all the time President Monson was President of the Church. In fact President Nelson was a member of the 12 the whole time President Monson was in the first presidency and then some time.
So in about 1989 I was told the church at the local level was largely moved forward by the weekly meetings of the Priesthood Executive Council. This was in many ways true at the time, although in general out of 4 weeks only 2 saw the PEC meet, one saw the Welfare Council which was the PEC plus the relief society president and another saw the Ward Council meet.
Starting in 2010 with the biggest Monsonian reform that people had a hard time understanding for what it was this changed. At that point The Ward Council was made more central to the functioning of the ward. This in part was meant to relieve some pressures on the bishop. It also involved the end of the ward activities committee and placing of these functions under the ward council, with the result that activities were to be more closely alligned to the general mission of the Church.
In some ways this change also explains why top-down history writing does not capture all the issues involved. The activities committee varried a great amount from unit to unit in ways that the technical policies did not encompass.
In the case of the activies committee it was in theory to have a physical recreation specialist, a cultural arts specialist and a chair. Often it only had a chair or co-chair, and the amount the speiclist did when called varried.
Another factor is that pretty much all activities not under the youth or pirmary programs came under the activities committee in most wards. The exceptions usually related to YSA. In YSA wards often there would be multiple committees doing things that would have been just the activities committee in a geographical ward. On the other hand some other wards would have YSA committees in the ward.
Going up a level from the ward or branch, the stake is very clearly a place where the presidency is not the only administrative body. A stake would have a high council. Stake high councils are a key point of Church discipline. They also help the stake presidency in running the stake. The stake presidency and high council are essentially the first presidency and quorum of the 12 ona local level. WIth the addition of the patriarch. There used to be a patriarch at the Church level.
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